6-8 Window shortie!!!

[JerReZeta]

Hii to everyone!!

My name is Josu and I want to create a house for me and two more friends to travel thru USA and south america

For this goal I decided to buy a mid sized bus of less than 30ft of 6-8 window. A 7.3L turbodiesel engine with less than 200k miles and allison trans would be great, but it´s not a dealbreaker. MUST be running, driving and stoping correctly.

My budget is 2500-3500 bucks and would be great to find her near Kanab, UT but I´m ready to travel anywhere for the proper bus.

Thank you sooo much guys!!

[rossvtaylor]

Hi Josu and welcome! We're not too terribly far from you, near Flagstaff. Kanab's a pretty place!

You've just described some of the most popular attributes...a short bus with a 7.3L. You've made some good choices. Unfortunately, that also means they're in demand and that pressure has increased over the past year. So, you may need to double your budget (at least?) to get exactly what you want. Prices have definitely gone up.

It sounds like you're looking at a newer bus, but if you plan to travel to South America you might want to open up your search to older mechanical diesel options which can be worked on anywhere. You don't want to be stuck in a small town because your engine (or transmission) control module fried. And you definitely want to avoid anything recent with diesel particulate filter (DPF) systems or such. I know a traveler who got stuck for almost 2 months, waiting to get the right electronic part in Mexico. A purely mechanical setup would be my choice for travel down south...but that means older...and that brings a different set of challenges.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by JerReZeta

Hii to everyone!!

My name is Josu and I want to create a house for me and two more friends to travel thru USA and south america

For this goal I decided to buy a mid sized bus of less than 30ft of 6-8 window. A 7.3L turbodiesel engine with less than 200k miles and allison trans would be great, but it´s not a dealbreaker. MUST be running, driving and stoping correctly.

My budget is 2500-3500 bucks and would be great to find her near Kanab, UT but I´m ready to travel anywhere for the proper bus.

Thank you sooo much guys!!

If you can try for a better engine. A cummins 5.9 or Cat 3126 are both found in lots of shorties. Even DT466's are often found in shorties. With a cummins or Cat you get a full radiator and cac. The 7.3's with split radiators and 545's like to run hot at highway speeds.

[JerReZeta]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

If you can try for a better engine. A cummins 5.9 or Cat 3126 are both found in lots of shorties. Even DT466's are often found in shorties. With a cummins or Cat you get a full radiator and cac. The 7.3's with split radiators and 545's like to run hot at highway speeds.

Good I like your post guys, cause i don´t have much idea and don´t know what suit me really, I´m really open into change my mind and search of another kind of engine. If you have a cheap shortie near Kanab, hit me up !

[rossvtaylor]

If the transmission is an AT545, I totally agree. Without a lockup, it loses some energy as heat. An MT643 would be preferable to most. But the 7.3 is a fantastic engine and I wouldn't discount it. We've had both the turbo and IDI versions and they were both great...but we've never had them paired with the 545. So...I'm not arguing with ECCB's comments at all, just adding my own experience.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

If the transmission is an AT545, I totally agree. Without a lockup, it loses some energy as heat. An MT643 would be preferable to most. But the 7.3 is a fantastic engine and I wouldn't discount it. We've had both the turbo and IDI versions and they were both great...but we've never had them paired with the 545. So...I'm not arguing with ECCB's comments at all, just adding my own experience.

I've only had one 444E bus. Its was great but you had to watch the temps on the highway at times. the tiny split radiator/cac setup and the 545 together made for a less than ideal setup for highway duty.
But I'd not poopoo a 7.3/444E.... I just prefer inline 6 diesels.

A lot of folks miss out on these Cat 3126's. They're pretty darn nice engines.
I'm not a brand loyal kind of person usually...

they're all good.

Ideally with a 444e I'd want an allison 2000.

Its all good here... we all can have different experiences or opinions and its all good.

Pretty much any pre-emissions engine is decent if cared for.

[JerReZeta]

I love ypu guys and thank you very much for the orientation but.. Do you have any bus to sell in my budget? XD

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by JerReZeta

I love ypu guys and thank you very much for the orientation but.. Do you have any bus to sell in my budget? XD

Last shorty I saw was on govdeals in NC. was up to $3500 last I saw but probably closed by now its been days.

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by JerReZeta

I love ypu guys and thank you very much for the orientation but.. Do you have any bus to sell in my budget? XD

Unfortunately, no... after all that, we can't help you with your bus...sorry! But hopefully this helps a bit?

EastCoastCB, I completely agree about the inline 6s! We have two 6-71s...I love 2-stroke diesels. We also have a Cat 3208, but I've never had the 3126...yet! And we have a Cummins 8.3 and a 7.3 IDI. So I'm very much not a brand champion, either. I think we agree more than we differ.

As long as she's not looking at an un-bulletproofed Ford 6.0 or a emissions-laden diesel, she's on pretty good ground.

[JerReZeta]

Absolutly yes, I´m learning a lot reading your posts and others too.

If you know any 4 to 8 window schoolie under 4000 bucks, let me know!!